Tuolumne County

Tuolumne County runs Highway 108 from the Central Valley floor up to the Sierra crest. Vineyards hold 1,500 to 2,500 feet around Sonora, Jamestown, and Columbia — granite-broken soil, warm days, cold nights, and zinfandel that carries the mountain on the finish. Tasting rooms lean Gold Country country — saloon porches, farmhouse patios, water bowls at the bench. Columbia State Historic Park opens leashed cobbled streets; the Stanislaus National Forest holds alpine walks fifteen minutes up the grade. Pair a Sierra foothills zinfandel with an afternoon in Columbia. Tuolumne pours wine at the edge of Yosemite, and the drive keeps giving.